Friday, December 16, 2011

Woman sentenced for false Gresham rape claim

A woman who lied this summer about being raped by two men behind a bookstore at a busy shopping center pleaded no contest on Monday, Dec. 5, to a charge of initiating a false police report.

Danielle Elizabeth Hayes, 35, of Gresham must serve two years of probation, perform 150 hours of community service, pay $3,000 in restitution to the Gresham Police Department for police overtime costs associated with the investigation and continue with her mental health treatment, according to the sentence imposed by Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Christopher Marshall.

Hayes also has 30 days to write letters of apology to the police department and to the citizens of Gresham

Her false rape report sparked fear throughout East Multnomah County in late July when she claimed that two men grabbed her in broad daylight as she was getting into her minivan next to Borders bookstore, pulled her dress over her head and raped her in the 600 block of Northwest 12th Street.

The distraught woman initially reported the men yanked her wedding ring off her finger during the rape and stole it.

At the time of the report, police asked for the community’s help identifying the attackers. The case was considered unique because most rapes are committed by someone the victim knows and rarely take place in a busy public place in broad daylight.

Five days later, Gresham police held a press conference to announce the woman recanted her story and confessed that she made it up in an elaborate attempt to cover-up personal indiscretions with a man she met online.